Empire City, Malaysia's largest shopping mall on track to complete by September

The highly-anticipated opening of Empire City Mall is said to be on track to be completed by September this year.

The opening of the mall has been delayed several times. It was originally scheduled for opening in December last year and was later moved to May or June this year in time to capture the Hari Raya celebrations.

All construction works are now geared towards completing the entire development by September, not just the mall component but also some of the office and hotel towers.

Even before its completion, Empire City has been chosen to be a host venue for the ice-skating and ice hockey events of the 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in August 2017. It is the first time SEA Games have ever hosted a winter sports event.

"This is indeed a positive news despite a recent incident involving a mobile crane accident," said a young first homebuyer who invested his first property being a studio unit in Empire City.

Several tenants of the mall were asked to prepare for interior fit-outs after the Chinese New Year celebrations, according to a retailer who declined to be named.

"Since the end of last year, Empire City's property developer has begun handing over units in batches at the Colonial tower after delivering Halo Sunday studio suites. It is, however, only some paperwork," said a property investor who lived in Petaling Jaya.

"I don't need a rush job. I just hope my unit's workmanship is acceptable," said another property investor who is concerned of the property delivery.

The development's delay in completion has also affected corporate customers such as My E.G. Services Bhd (MyEG) and HCK Capital Group Sdn Bhd, who both purchased office space enbloc within the development.

Nevertheless, property owners here are looking forward to the opening of Empire City Mall, which will have close to 2.3 million sq ft in Net Lettable Area (NLA), making it the largest shopping centre in Malaysia and one of the largest in the region.

"The mix of distinctive glass façade and colonial-styled architecture accords the mall with an international feel and truly a unique crowd-puller for middle-to-upper-income residents from Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Mont Kiara and Desa ParkCity," said a property consultant who manages several condominium units in Damansara Perdana.

"The biggest issue with Empire City will be the accessibility. Those who missed the Penchala ramp (Kepong-bound on LDP Highway) will attempt to go through the underground tunnel (beneath LDP) hence causing massive jam at the bottleneck," said another property consultant.

According to the developer's website, Empire City Mall's unique 4-in-1 thematic concept will be accompanied with inter-connected retail featuring an International High Street, Colonial Street, Asian Food Street and Bar & Bistro Street boulevard-styled retail outlets.

Chic-looking al-fresco F&B and dining outlets as well as trendy workplaces will greet visitors across the several signature office blocks.

These streets come with a permanent controlled temperature canopy and will be suitable to host an array of retail brands and promote an all-hour shopping experience. There will be a large number of lifestyle café and dining choices as well as nightlife outlets.

"I would love to see some happening places coming up at the Bar & Bistro Street," said another property buyer.

The mall's signature luxury courtyard is believed to have international designer and luxury tenants. Despite big luxury brands that may make their presence here, the developer's leasing team has not announced any of its tenants officially. Parkson will be an anchor departmental store with close to 100,000 sq ft alongside several other anchor tenants.

"So far Empire City Mall's tenants have been impressive and it will certainly be a new destination for Kuala Lumpur, if not for Malaysia," said a retail personnel who is currently covering several upcoming malls in Kuala Lumpur.

The mall is expected to open with more than 80% tenants already secured.

The mall will host a karaoke centre, an international bowling alley and an Olympic-sized ice rink with purpose-built seating and training facilities.

"The ice rink will be different than those at Sunway Pyramid and IOI City Mall because this will be the first rink in Malaysia capable to host winter sports," said an expatriate planning consultant.

The entire development boasts over 10,000 car parking bays spread over 4 levels of basement carpark.

South Korea's CJ CGV Cinemas will anchor a standalone 8-storey tower which host Asia's first multi-projection theatre and Malaysia’s first 4DX cinematic halls.

Branded 'Cultureplex', derived from the social culture lifestyle and the abbreviation of complex, the cinema will encompass 3 formats of screening namely 4DX, ScreenX and Starium. A total of 20 screens spread out across 7 high-volume levels.

The 4DX theatre is a motion seat viewing experience coupled with environmental effects. The ScreenX theatre will have a panoramic 270 degree screen and the Starium theatre is a large screen format theatre with up to 600 seats.

There will also be a theatre called, Private Cinema, a luxury theatre which will offer a lounge and dining area. The Multifunction Hall is a theatre with flexible seating arrangement for events and more.

Latest progress on 25 January 2016 seen from Jalan PJU 8/1 in Damansara Perdana.

Empire City is a RM5 billion, 23-acre mixed-use development located in Damansara Perdana. along the LDP Highway. The highrise-dominated development is one of the biggest of its kind in Selangor.

It is undertaken by Cosmopolitan Avenue Sdn Bhd, which is part of the Mammoth Empire Holdings Group of Companies. The group is helmed by Datuk Sean Ng Yee Teck and Datuk Danny Cheah Joi Yong.

PTLM understands that the current "Phase 1" development of Empire City will be extended by another 5 to 6 acres to house a new commercial complex adjoined to the mall.

It will host retail spaces, a convention centre and a 53-storey The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences with 288 luxurious guestrooms and suites. This tower block is the 12th highrise in the development.

In total, there will be three 5-star international hotels in Empire City; two of them being the first The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the first Marriott Hotel outside of Kuala Lumpur city centre.

A third 260-room Artés will be the first Autograph Collection luxury hotels to be introduced in Malaysia, and will be managed by Marriott International.

Mammoth Empire is also advancing another 60-acre development opposite the Empire City's northern end, situated on Jalan PJU 8/8. The land is surrounding a lake below a scenic tropical limestone hill of Bukit Lanjan. Ground works started since two years ago.

To be called Empire City 2, this refers to the "Phase 2" development that will offer lakeside retail mall (continuation of Empire City Mall), retail shops, international hotels, office suites, concert auditoriums and an international theme park. An iconic twin skyscraper towers will also be built here.

It was said that an elevated podium or bridge will connect both Empire City Phase 1 and 2 across the LDP Highway. The pillars supporting the connecting structure are being constructed along LDP Highway.

Across LDP Highway from Empire City, its predecessor development Empire Damansara has a retail component called Heritage Lane with a NLA of approximately 280,000 sq ft. Heritage Lane's retail boulevard concept is mostly targeted at food and beverage outlets.

Nearby 1 Utama Shopping Centre in neighbouring Bandar Utama has a NLA of 2.04 million sq ft. Closer to Empire City, there are adjoined complexes such as The Curve Shopping Centre, eCurve and IPC Shopping Centre with a combined NLA of 1.38 million sq ft, excluding IKEA Damansara store.

Popular for its Empire Subang success, Mammoth Empire has other ongoing developments such as Empire Residence and the upcoming Empire Residence 2, both in Damansara Perdana; and Empire Remix and Empire Remix 2, both in USJ 1, Subang Jaya.